More than 23 percent of students graduating from four-year public universities and 38 percent of those graduating from private colleges have too much student-loan debt to live on the average salary for a starting teacher, concludes a report by the State Public Interest Research Group’s Higher Education Project.

The Washington-based organization compared the student debt of recent college graduates with starting salaries to determine the percentage of students who would not be able to afford to pay back their loans without “significant economic hardship.” The study found similar financial hardships for recent college graduates who might work as social workers.